Port Vale should aim for Championship, says Tom Pope

Pope joined Rotherham for a club record �150,000 in June 2009

Port Vale should be aiming to reach the Championship within the next few years, according to on-loan striker Tom Pope.

The 25-year-old, who is at Vale Park on a one month deal from Rotherham, supported the Valiants as a boy.

"I've been in the stand for a lot of years and I know how well the supporters get behind the club," Pope told BBC Radio Stoke.

"Port Vale is a massive club, and if we can get promoted, I'm sure the club can push on towards the Championship."

The last time Vale appeared in the second tier of English football was in 1999/2000 when they were relegated under Brian Horton.

They subsequently had eight seasons in League One before dropping into the bottom division of the Football League in May 2008.

Vale are currently seventh in League Two, four points away from an automatic promotion place but with two games in hand on third-placed Shrewsbury.

Pope joined Rotherham from Crewe for a club record fee of £150,000 in June 2009 but scored just six goals in 54 games for the Millers before moving to Vale Park on loan in January.

"When I moved to Rotherham there was pressure because they paid decent money for me," continued Pope, who began his career in non-league football with Biddulph Vics. "I probably let that get to me a little bit.

"But it's not like that coming here [to Port Vale), I've got a lot of friends and family in the stands and feel like I don't need to prove anything to them.

"If you've got a choice between being a squad player at Rotherham, or a squad player at a club I've supported all of my life, it wasn't a difficult decision."

Pope has yet to find the net in his two appearances as a substitute for Vale and missed a penalty in the 1-1 draw at Wycombe on Saturday.